Freezing temperatures and fog, scraping ice off the car, perfect rugby weather. With matches being cancelled all around London, there might have been a tinge of regret that the boys were playing on a professional pitch that was going to hold up under any conditions - but by the time the group got there there was a real buzz. Playing in front of the stands - even if empty - can do that. Despite the freezing temperatures the boys braved the outdoors to warm up - and really never stopped.

The first match was against a Teddington team that Hampstead had eventually beaten well in our first league match, but we had known that it was tighter than the final score indicated. This time, the point was quickly made that we were in for a tougher battle. Cold hands and potentially cold minds hurt the boys in the early going, a number of drops and some slack tackling letting the opposition in for two early tries. Two- nil down instead of two-nil up the last time - they had it all to do. We were very proud to see them correct it themselves though (despite some vocal debate), starting to win the breakdown and scoring a few great tries in the first half to actually go into the break 3-2 up. They then kept control well in the second - holding the line despite some real pressure, and adding a couple more tries to win convincingly.

After a quick turnaround (probably welcome in the weather), the boys took on a very good (and very large) Ealing team on their home pitch. Unfortunately, the start the game followed a similar pattern: better grip on the ball, but a few missed tackles and some slick Ealing handling putting the boys down by two again. From that point, this match was always a tall order. The boys fought hard - struggling for the dominant tackles but at least holding on, and after that opening five minutes probably played the match to a draw. Unfortunately that left them down at the end, and looking at the first league loss of the season. Nonetheless, the willingness to keep fighting and not leak tries at the end was very positive, and there were other positives to take from the match. Most of all, the feeling of a loss will teach them more than an easy victory ever will - turning that into a positive is how they will become a great team.